Kirk hasn't lost his touch; wins $1 million estate case

Posted on Aug 29, 2014 11:30am PDT

INEZ – An interesting thing happened in the Inez courthouse this
week: an irresistible force met an immovable object.

Ned Pillersdorf, certainly a legal force in the area, irresistible to
jurors, successful in most of his trials in Martin County, got nailed
last week when he ran into the Martin County rock, John Kirk. It was the
first courtroom meeting of Kirk and Pillersdorf, both of whom usually
represent plaintiffs.

Kirk – according to reports from courthouse watchers – had
never lost a civil trial at Inez.

More than $1 million was at stake in a Floyd County case that came to trial
at Prestonsburg last September, but was transferred to Martin County after
a mis-trial.

The trial concerned the will of Shirley Mae Reynolds, a wealthy business
woman who died last January. The defendant, Bryant, probated what purported
to be the Last Will and Testament of Shirley Mae Reynolds, but the other
siblings sued claiming the signature on the will was a forgery. A handwriting
expert from Louisville, Steve Slyder, backed up Pillersdorf’s case
and testified for several hours Monday.

Kirk and Bryant, however, carried the day without relying on an expert.
Kirk’s case was based upon what he called the will maker’s
“intent.” Several of Kirk’s witnesses testified that
Shirley Reynolds told them that she had “always intended”
to leave her estate to Vicki Bryant, the youngest of ten children. Kirk
also produced testimony from witnesses who said that Shirley Reynolds,
twenty-eight years older than Vicki Bryant, and Bryant had a “mother-daughter”
relationship.

In his closing argument, Kirk portrayed the handwriting expert as a paid
“hired gun in it for the money.”

“He (the expert) made $4,000,” Kirk said, “for coming
from Louisville to testify,” and he cautioned the jurors about what
could happen to them. “If that’s all it takes to break a will,
what will is safe?” he asked jurors.

The jury, by a 9-3 verdict, found for Bryant. Floyd Circuit Judge, John
David Caudill, presided over the trial. Pillersdorf has announced that
he will appeal.